


Invisible

by the_duck_bride



Category: the GazettE
Genre: AU, Angst, Comedy, Crack, Fluff, High School, M/M, Mild Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-14
Updated: 2016-01-14
Packaged: 2018-05-13 22:38:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5719633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_duck_bride/pseuds/the_duck_bride
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aoi is a nobody. He sticks to himself and doesn’t mingle. He’s never noticed; especially not by Kai… or so he thought.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Invisible

_Great, it’s absolutely pissing down outside_.  
  
Aoi sat at his usual spot towards the back of his advanced music theory class, gazing absentmindedly out the window to the sky that was dropping a gallon of water a second. He sighed and dropped his forehead against the hard wooden desk as he thought about how he’d have to walk home in the relentless downpour; he’d probably end up catching pneumonia or something. The raven haired student loved the rain, just not when he had to walk in it. He knew he couldn’t count on his parents to come and pick him up; they were both busy with work.  
  
 _Maybe I could call Uru…_  
  
He instantly brushed the idea off knowing that his elder brother would be busy at university and wouldn’t have the time to leave and pick him up only to return halfway through an important lecture. So it looked like he’d have absolutely no choice but to make the thirty minute trek home in the pouring rain.  
  
Loud laughing to his left caught his rather distracted attention and he glanced over to spot two other boys in his class conversing animatedly despite the teacher’s efforts to keep their attention focused. Reita and Kai were chatting between themselves with little care for the people around them they were disturbing. Aoi guessed that the pair of them could be considered popular; he didn’t really know to be honest. He gauged popularity by the amount of friends someone had and, to him, it seemed like Reita and Kai were friends with basically everyone; not including him. He wasn’t really included in the “everyone” category. He was an outlier who kept to himself; usually situated in the back of the classroom where no one would see him. It wasn’t like he was antisocial or anything, people just didn’t seem to pay any attention to him and he didn’t really mind that. Even though he’d grown up having a brother and being around the company of another child he’d always preferred to stick to his own company, finding that the company of others tended to end up irritating him more than anything; especially once he got into middle school. He’d had a best friend in elementary, but that was long-over. People often got the wrong impression of him, he thought. Most of the people who’d actually ever noticed him thought he was a total arsehole who looked down his nose at everyone else. But really, they couldn’t be further from the truth. Aoi was quite a nice person if he found he could get along with someone; he was animated in conversation and contributed his opinions and thoughts. He just didn’t often find people he had a lot in common with.  
  
The pair of boys continued with their conversation and Aoi found himself watching intently, not really listening because that would be rude; but it was quite interesting for him to just watch. He’d always been like that. He preferred to sit back and observe most situations rather than directly participate. He watched the way the blond student grinned boyishly and would occasionally deliver a light punch to his friend’s arm to express his displeasure at the other’s playful teasing. Reita was attractive, Aoi supposed, with his exotically dyed blond hair and rugged, ‘bad boy’ appearance; but he wasn’t Aoi’s kind of attractive. Out of the pair, Reita was definitely more popular among the ladies.  
  
However, when his gaze strayed to the brunet beside Reita his solitary heart fluttered. Truth be told, Aoi’s heart had always done a little flutter whenever he was around Kai. The bubbly brunet just had the ability to brighten anyone’s day with his million megawatt smile. Aoi loved the way his perfect, wavy brunet hair fell just right, framing his face and complementing his soft features. But Kai never noticed him; and Aoi assumed he probably never would. It was their last year of high school, after all. If Kai had noticed him and wanted to talk to him he probably would’ve done by now.  
  
Aoi couldn’t help but smile a little to himself as he gazed at the beautiful brunet. He loved the way his classmate’s dimples showed whenever he grinned and the way he tipped his head to the side ever so slightly. Oh, what Aoi would give to be able to run his long, dainty fingers through the soft strands of shoulder-length brown hair? ( _Probably his left kidney_ , he thought.) He wondered what those ever-smiling lips might feel against his own plump ones. But Aoi would never know any of that, would he? Because Kai didn’t know he existed and it made his heart ache when he thought of the prospect of never hearing Kai _actually_ talk to him, never hear him say the raven’s name, never know what it felt like to have that smile aimed at _him_.  
  
Aoi was so distracted by his own brooding it didn’t even register to him when Reita suddenly looked his way, dark eyes focussing on him. Aoi only noticed what was really going on when the blond nudged his friend, successfully gaining his attention, and nodded in the raven’s direction, whispering something about having a secret admirer. With confusion written all over his face, Kai swiveled his head in the raven’s direction, looking out for what Reita had pointed out to him.  
  
Aoi felt as if his heart had suddenly leapt into his throat when his eyes, covered by dull blue contact lenses, connected with Kai’s own chocolate brown ones. His breathing ceased and his limbs froze up. He sat, like a deer caught in headlights, and stared at the boy he’d shared advanced music class in since his first year of high school. It was the first time ever that Kai had looked directly at him, and the curious stare he directed at Aoi made the raven’s brain jumble around until he was fairly sure it’d just become a big pile of mush inside his skull. He thought he was going to die when the brunet tilted his head to the side in the most adorable fashion; like a confused puppy.  
  
 _Maybe he does know who I am…_ Aoi’s heart fluttered at the very prospect.  
  
However his fleeting hopes were crushed when Kai spoke to Reita, still without taking his eyes off Aoi, “Hey, is that a new kid?”  
  
Reita only shrugged and shook his head slightly, “No idea, man.”  
  
Aoi felt his heart sink to the very pit of his stomach. So he really _was_ invisible to Kai. He wasn’t surprised, really. He’d spent his entire high school life simply admiring from the shadows, never stepping out into the light and letting his presence be known; it was only fair that the subject of his admiration would have no clue who he was.  
  
Kai gave him one more curious glance before turning back to his and Reita’s previous conversation, completely disregarding the shattered expression that was probably evident across Aoi’s usually solemn face. The raven felt his eyebrows draw together as his insides twisted almost painfully. Letting out a shaky breath he faced towards the window again and laid his head down against the desk, letting the silent tears pool against the hard wooden surface.  
  
No one would notice him crying; especially not the person he wished would notice, because he was invisible.  
  
***  
  
Standing at the entrance of the school building, Aoi watched kids rush around with the umbrellas held close in an effort to fight the inevitable possibility of getting wet. Most retreated to cars that waited nearby to pick them up, others began the walk home; however, at least they had some form of protection against the torrential downpour.  
  
With a heavy sigh, Aoi wiped his dry cheeks for what seemed like the hundredth time since the end of his music class. The last thing he wanted was to _finally_ be noticed as the kid who cried for no apparent reason; because that wasn’t the case, but the whole school population wouldn’t understand that, would they? After he was made sure that his cheeks were indeed dry, the raven student hoisted backpack further onto his shoulder before finally stepping out into the pouring rain. Almost instantly his clothes were completely soaked. Water squelched inside his black leather shoes, his long grey pants hung soggily from his skinning legs, his white long-sleeve shirt clung to his slight frame, basically see-through and his shoulder length raven hair hung limply in his line of vision. Shivering, the lanky third year student quickly scurried out the gates, ignoring the few glances he did get. As he walked, the wind picked up, making him feel as if he were quickly turning into an icicle.  
  
 _Only twenty more minutes. Twenty minutes and I’m home._  
  
When he reached the fifteen minute mark Aoi was sure his fingers were going to drop off and just as he shoved them into his pockets, which really didn’t help all that much, the rain suddenly disappeared. He stopped walking, confused as to why it was no longer raining on him; however it continued to rain everywhere else.  
  
“Hey there,” a cheerful voice came from his right, making him jump almost twenty feet in the air.  
  
“Holy fuck! You scared the shit out of me!” He exclaimed before he’d even bothered to check exactly who was standing beside him. When he finally did look his expression morphed into one of pure shock and horror. There was Kai, holding out his umbrella to cover both himself and the shivering raven… and Aoi had just yelled at him. Aoi had just yelled at Kai. The realization made his chest feel tight and, wide eyes, he shrunk away from the laughing brunet like some kind of timid animal.  
  
Kai stopped laughing and looked down at the raven, “Don’t look so scared, I’m not going to bite you.”  
  
“Well, I certainly hope not… That’d just be weird,” Aoi commented dryly as he slowly came back to stand at his full height, which wasn’t all that much shorter than Kai’s.  
  
The brunet giggled again, “I was joking. I never bite anyone.” He watched as the raven merely nodded. “Why do you seem so surprised? You look a bit like a deer caught in headlights… kinda like in music today.”  
  
“To be honest I really have no idea why you’re talking to me,” Aoi said straight up. The raven had never really been one for beating around the bush. A lack of a lot of friends and suitable human interaction had left his social skills kind of stunted. He didn’t really get sarcasm or when he just needed to keep his mouth shut and not say anything.  
  
Kai looked slightly confused and a little… hurt? “Why wouldn’t I talk to you?”  
  
Aoi merely shrugged, “No one ever talks to me.”  
  
Kai seemed thoughtful for a second, and then offered Aoi one of his killer smiles and the raven thought that he might actually drop dead right then and there. Kai smiled at him. _Kai_ actually smiled at _him_. He felt as if his life had just been completed. There was now no need for him to finish school and get a good job. He could drop dead at any second and that’d be ok because Kai had smiled at _him_.  
  
“Well, that’s because you’re new, right?” Aoi was pulled out of his blissful daydreaming by Kai’s comment. For the second time that day he felt his heart being stomped on repeatedly. “People are probably just shy, that’s the way everyone is whenever there’s someone new at school. But, don’t worry,” Kai clamped his large, veiny hand down on Aoi’s frail shoulder, “I promise tomorrow I’ll give you the full tour.”  
  
“Tch.” Aoi made sour face and turned on his heel. If Kai was going to stand there and belittle him without knowing a thing he wasn’t going to stick around. It was already bad enough that the oblivious brunet had no idea they’d been in the same school for years. Trudging back out into the pouring rain, Aoi tried to make a quick attempt to get away from Kai. However, the brunet was having none of that.  
  
“Hey, wait up!” Kai ran after him, grabbing onto his elbow in an attempt to cease his getaway. “Did I say something wrong?”  
  
“You know,” Aoi suddenly snapped and turned back to Kai, shaking off the other’s grip. “I know I’m invisible to everyone but, come on, now I’m a _new kid_? You know, we’ve been in the same advanced music class since the beginning of high school? No, of course you don’t know that. So thanks, but no thanks; I won’t be needing that tour tomorrow.”  
  
Aoi watched as Kai squeezed his eyes shut and smacking himself in the forehead with his palm. When he reopened his eyes the deep pools of brown held a mixture of embarrassment and guilt. “Crap, I’m so sorry!  I just… I mean, I never really…” Kai sighed, “I don’t know how to say this without sounding like a total dick.”  
  
Aoi shrugged in defeat, predicting what the brunet was trying to say as he wrapped his arms around himself in a weak attempt to stay warm, “It’s alright, you can say you never noticed me…”  
  
Suddenly, Kai noticed just how much Aoi was shivering. Of course, he must have been absolutely freezing. Kai smiled and reached out to put his hand back on the raven’s shoulder and, this time, it wasn’t shaken off. “Hey, my place is just there,” he pointed to a two story home across the street. “Why don’t you come inside and we can get you warmed up; you look like you’re about to turn into a block of ice.”  
  
Aoi stared at Kai in total shock. Kai wanted him to go into his home? Would they go into Kai’s bedroom; Aoi wondered what it would look like. It was probably immaculately clean. He was so caught up in his own little world he didn’t even noticed when Kai started talking to him again until the brunet waved his hand in front of Aoi’s face.  
  
“Ah, sorry,” the raven apologized.  
  
Kai giggled and commented lightly, “You zone out a lot. Come on, let’s go.”  
  
Aoi stuck close to Kai as they walked towards his house; they needed to walk shoulder to shoulder in order to both fit under the umbrella and Aoi could feel his cheeks heat up at the prospect of being so close to his long time crush. When they reached the front door Kai told Aoi he’d be back in a minute. The brunet kicked his shoes off and rushed into the house, returning a moment later with a large white towel for the raven. Mumbling his thanks, Aoi took the offered towel draped it over himself, feeling the warmth slowly starting to return.  
  
Soon the pair found themselves up in Kai’s bedroom, Aoi sitting cross-legged on the wooden floor with a steaming cup of tea in his hands. Kai’s room was exactly how he’d imagined it; neat and well-organised. When he’d made a comment on the cleanliness of it, Kai had shrugged and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, telling Aoi that he still managed to lose things even though his room was always clean.  
  
Kai positioned himself on the floor in front of Aoi, smiling as he took a sit of his own tea. The brunet had been kind enough to let Aoi borrow a pair of his sweat pants and an oversized jumper, which was far too big for him; the sleeves hanging well past his hands. He was grateful; even though he’d probably still catch a cold, he wouldn’t end up with pneumonia.  
  
Kai surprised Aoi when he leaned forward suddenly and studied the raven’s face closely. Aoi could feel his cheeks heating up as he turned his head away slightly. “W-what are you doing?” He stammered out as Kai narrowed his eyes and tilted his head to the side a bit.  
  
“I swear I’ve seen you before…” he mused quietly what he’d been thinking since he saw the raven that afternoon in class, and Aoi wasn’t sure if he was talking to himself or not.  
  
 _You have, Kai. You just don’t remember._  
  
Aoi sighed and placed his cup down next to him, returning his hands to his lap. He toyed with the sleeve of his borrowed jumper, refusing to let his gaze meet the brunet’s. Kai seemed to understand though; he wasn’t stupid after all.  
  
“I _do_ know you, don’t I?” He asked and he leaned a little closer, making Aoi pull away again. “Where do I know you from?”  
  
“I didn’t think you’d remember…” Aoi mumbled.  
  
Kai frowned in confusion. “Remember what? Please, tell me where I know you from.”  
  
Aoi sighed and glanced at Kai through his raven fringe. “We were best friends when we were kids, you used to live next door to me and we’d always play together; we went to school together as well. But you moved away at the end of  elementary school and before you left you told me you’d come back to me. You promised. You gave me this,” Aoi held out his thin wrist and showed Kai the homemade bracelet the brunet had made for him before he left. “And you told me that you would come back and find me; then we’d move away and live together just like we always planned to. After that I never heard from you; you didn’t call, you didn’t email… nothing. Three years later, on my first day of high school I walked into my advanced music theory class and guess who was sitting in the back row?” Aoi smiled wistfully. “It was you; just as bright and happy as ever. I was overjoyed, I really was. But when I walked towards you with a huge smile on my face, calling your name, you only looked at me and smiled politely, asking if you knew me. And then, today, you didn’t even remember _that_ ; you thought I was a new kid.” Aoi sniffled a little, “You completely forgot who I was, Kai. You forgot me, even though you promised you’d come back. Kai…I’ve never loved anyone as much as I love you.”  
  
When the raven looked up he noticed that tears had gathered in the corners of Kai’s usually bright, cheery eyes and he instantly felt bad for making his used-to-be best friend cry. It appeared as though realization had finally dawned on the brunet when he shot forward and tackled Aoi to the ground in a bone-crushing hug.  
  
“Aoi!” He let out a very unmanly sob as he buried his face into damp raven tresses. “Oh, my god, Aoi! I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I-I didn’t know. I had no idea it was you. I’m such a horrible person.” He tightened his hold, “I promise I never ever forgot you. I just… I can’t explain myself. I don’t know how. I’m just… I’m such a horrible friend and I know nothing I say will make what I’ve done any better. I loved you too! Heck, I still love you, Aoi and you need to know that I’m really, really sorry. I never meant to… Oh, god…”  
  
Aoi smiled sadly as he ran his fingers through Kai’s hair, enjoying its silky texture. Kai seemed so distraught he couldn’t even form coherent sentences. “Shh,” Aoi cooed. “It’s ok. I forgive you, Kai.  I’m just glad that you _do_ remember, even though I did need to jog your memory a bit.”  
  
Kai gave a small laugh through the tears that were trickling down his cheeks and dampening Aoi’s hair even more. The brunet pulled back, using his hands, which were placed on either side of Aoi’s head, to support his weight. The raven smiled up at him adoringly and reached a pale hand up to brush away the tears that were still evident on his friend’s cheek. Kai shifted his weight onto just one of his hands as the other reached up to catch Aoi’s. Bringing it to his lips, he kissed the palm softly before nuzzling into it.  
  
“Idiot, why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Kai mumbled into Aoi’s palm.  
  
“Because… you made friends with Reita, and I… I don’t know, I just didn’t want to ruin that for you, I guess. You had someone else, you didn’t need me and it was clear that you didn’t remember me either. So, I just kind of backed off, I suppose.” Aoi gave a shrug, not really knowing how to fully explain himself.  
  
“I was so sad when I left, Aoi. Mum had to take me to the doctor because I wasn’t eating or sleeping, I was getting really sick,” Kai explained. “I refused to accept the fact that I couldn’t see you anymore. I never called because mum thought it’d be best to sever all connections with you because she thought you were the cause of it all. Then, eventually, I suppose I just… forgot. But I’m sorry, Aoi. And I remember now, I remember everything.”  
  
Aoi smiled when Kai peppered kissed against his palm in apology. The raven giggled, “Stop saying sorry, idiot. I’ve already forgiven you.”  
  
“Even if you forgive me I won’t stop being sorry,” Kai mumbled against pale skin. “I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”  
  
“You don’t need to make it up to me, Kai,” Aoi protested, stroking up the brunet’s muscled forearm with his spare hand.  
  
“Yes, I do,” Kai insisted. “And nothing you say can stop me from showering you praise and gifts and love.”  
  
Aoi couldn’t help but laugh and he pulled his hand out of Kai’s grasp, only to place it on the nape of his neck. Kai smiled fondly down at his old friend and brushed some away of the black tendrils covering Aoi’s forehead. Leaning down, Kai rested his weight on his elbows now, bringing him nose to nose with his classmate. Aoi’s tea scented breath mingled with his as he stared into eyes that were covered by pale blue contacts. Slowly, he nudged his nose against Aoi’s and watched as the raven’s plush lips curl in a little smile. Kai returned it before taking the final step and toughing his own lips with Aoi’s. The kiss was tender and soft; nothing but a mere brush of lips against lips, testing the waters. When Kai pulled back he grinned, noticing how a blush was starting to form on Aoi’s smiling face, and leaned down again; this time deepening the blissful action. Aoi wrapped his arms securely around Kai’s neck and pushed up into the kiss. Soon, he felt the prod of a tongue against his lower lip and, without much of a fuss at all, opened his soft lips to let Kai in. Tongues swirled together, dancing and twisting gracefully in perfect sync. It felt like the most perfect, natural thing they could do.  
  
When they finally pulled away for some much needed oxygen, Kai grinned down at Aoi, whose cheeks were flushed a light pink colour. “You know,” the brunet mused. “I still intend to live with you, whether you want me there or not.”  
  
Aoi only giggled and pulled Kai back down, murmuring against his lips, “Shut and kiss me.”


End file.
